The population of cats and kittens is reaching the limit.
By Eileen M. Adams
Staff Writer

RUMFORD – Marsha McKenna hates to have any of the kittens and cats in residence at her kennel put down. She loves cats and dogs, and her goal is to find good homes for them.

But of the hundreds of cats and kittens that arrive at her kennel door, almost half meet that fate. If only people would have their pets neutered, she said.

Right now, in mid-August, the kennel located on Hall Hill, is virtually bursting with fluffy gray, multi-colored, black, and money-colored cats and kittens. McKenna has about all she can care for, even with the help of a “foster” parent who has taken in two particularly young kittens.

They need more care than McKenna, who also looks after six dogs, can provide. There are 28 cats aged six months and older, and seven kittens. One of the young cats is about to give birth to a litter anytime now.

There’s the so-called Wal-Mart cat. A large, black, declawed cat with golden eyes. McKenna speculates that his owners likely had an RV that had been parked, perhaps overnight, in the Mexico Wal-Mart parking lot. When they left, the cat somehow – either accidentally or purposely – wasn’t with them.

Then there’s a gentle, small, brown-and-white cat about to give birth. She will be difficult to find a home for. Sometimes McKenna has to have pregnant cats put down, but she thought she’d try to keep this one until the kittens are born and able to live on their own. Perhaps by then, someone will want her.

“They are all so friendly and get along well with other cats and the dogs,” McKenna said.

A large, long-haired, black-and-white male was a stray on the South Rumford Road. His large body was all skin and bone when he got to the shelter. In the month since he’s been there, he has filled out nicely.

His large, golden eyes peer from a black head “decorated” with a white fur collar. He loves to be petted and curl his paws around the fingers and hands of people.

A basketful of 5-month-old kittens of all colors fearfully cling to each other. They are barn cats, said McKenna, and they aren’t used to being handled. They are wide-eyed and frightened and come in calico, gray, black and white, and a combination of gray tiger and calico.

McKenna hopes they will be handled more. If they become tame, then they will be ready for adoption. But that doesn’t always happen.

“Some people just don’t get it,” she said of those who don’t neuter their cats. “Everybody says they will find a good home for kittens, but many probably wind up here. I’m tired of seeing signs outside of houses every six months offering free kittens.”

A couple of volunteers help out with the cage cleaning and other things needed at the shelter. Some generous people supply her with newspapers and cat food.

But despite this help, sometimes the job of caring for animals no one else wants gets pretty heavy.

McKenna started her business 18 years ago because she loves animals. She does the best she can to find homes for them.

“I do it because I have to. Nobody else will,” she said.

Anyone looking for a loving ball of fur can stop by the shelter Mondays through Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., or on Saturdays and Sundays from 9-11 a.m. Cats and kittens can be adopted for a $25 fee and a refundable neutering fee if the animal has not yet been neutered.

eadams@sunjournal.com

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